Getting Lit with Linda - The Canadian Literature Podcast

In this episode, Linda interviews Stephen Collis about his most recent collection of poetry, A History of the Theories of Rain (Talon Books). The next episode is the second part of that interview. For now, just a couple of points of clarification: SFU, the acronym that Collis and Linda use in this interview, stands for Simon Fraser University. Also, they refer to the SLAPP suit by which Collis was confronted. For those of you who may have never heard of this before, a SLAPP suit is a civil lawsuit or counterclaim that alleges defamation but is really initiated for the purposes of intimidating, burdening, punishing, or harassing – and usually it is filed against people or organizations who speak out about issues of public interest. 

Linda and Stephen cover several topics, including

• 10.40 his activism
• 13.13 Kinder Morgan
• 14.00 Collis’s poetry as used in a legal setting
• 16.12 A History of the Theories of Rain
• 16.23 grief
• 19. Greta Thunberg and recent political shortcomings

In the Takeaway portion of the podcast, Linda introduces her listeners to the young poet, Isabella Wang, whose collection, Pebble Swing (Nightwood Editions), and the poetry that appeared in The Capilano Review, showcase a burgeoning talent.

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In today's episode - for International Women's Day - Linda chats with Shani Mootoo about her forthcoming book of poetry, Cane Fire (Book *Hug) and the collaborative nature of its production. We also discuss the following:

• her archival materials at Simon Fraser University (20.58)
• erotic poetry (22.45)
• working in different genres (26.26)
• her forthcoming memoir (34.27)
• Oeno Gallery (34.27)
• the Ukrainian invasion and poetry (47.53)

And so much more! Please stay tuned for the forthcoming onsite exhibit at Simon Fraser University in which one of the archival materials from Shani Mootoo's archive will be featured.

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In this episode, Linda has the great pleasure of chatting with Wayde Compton, the writer, scholar, publisher, and current Chair of Creative Writing at Douglas College (in New Westminster, BC). He is the author of several books, including 49th Parallel Psalm (finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize); Performance Bond; After Canaan: Essays on Race, Writing, and Region (finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award); the graphic novel, The Blue Road; and The Outer Harbour (winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award). He has also edited two anthologies: Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature and The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them (finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award).

During this interview, we also speak about

• the Black population in Vancouver compared to that of Nova Scotia (17.15)
• May Ayin (22)
• the Black Cultural Archive (4.30 and 8)
• What to read (and his own reading patterns, 30)

Compton is a co-founder of the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project (8), an organization formed to raise awareness about the history of Vancouver’s black community, and was one of the co-founders of Commodore Books (11.40), with Karina Vernon and David Chariandy. For February, he has been an active social media presence, for Black History Month. If you follow him on Twitter—and if you don’t, we highly recommend that you do at @WaydeCompton – you’ll know that he’s been tweeting stories about people of African descent in Vancouver.

So, just in time for Black History Month, we hope you enjoy this interview with Wayde Compton.

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Linda is delighted to be back for her third season of Getting Lit With Linda!

In this first episode of the season, she considers the movie, Don't Look Up (dir. by Adam McKay, 1.13, 2.49), the nature of satire (with reference to Mordecai Richler, 2.00, and Jonathan Swift, 2.11), and the looming environmental crisis. It's a topic that poet, Rita Wong (4.32) has addressed unflinchingly in her work, especially forage (published by Nightwood Editions, winner of the Dorothy Livesay Prize, 6.09). Linda recalls getting in touch with Wong when her former student, Morgan Cohen (5.25), used her work in an independent study (which has since gone on to be published). In so doing, Linda is shocked to discover Wong's legal entanglement (7.44), but, in the process, she realizes and is inspired by Wong, who has made a clear decision to be a land protector.

Appropriately, Clayton Thomas-Muller's book, Life in the City of Dirty Water (16.30) came to her attention while working on this episode--his work as an activist emerges from the realization that self-healing is essential to the process. This fascinating book has since been shortlisted for the Canada Reads competition, which includes the following writers this year:

• Michelle Good's Five Little Indians
• Catherine Hernandez's Scarborough
• Esi Edugyan's Washington Black and
• Omar El Akkad's What Strange Paradise

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Linda and several of this season's contributors--Chantel Lavoie, Marco Timpano, Amanda Barker, and Michael Nest--render their book recommendations for the holidays:

1. Ivan Coyote's Care Of
2. Margaret Atwood's The Door,
3. David Chariandy's I've Been Meaning to Tell You
4. Zoe Whittall's The Best Kind of People
5. Anne-Marie MacDonald's Fall on your Knees),

Linda offers her listeners a gift for the holidays - from the archives, her previously-unpublished interview with Ali Hassan, the host of Canada Reads. The interview, from 2020 (and Canada Reads 2020-2021), alludes to the background of the pandemic, which (alas!) remains relevant. Drawing back the curtain to allow us see the inner workings of Canada Reads, Ali Hassan offers interesting insights about this national literary competition and about his role in it.

Happy holidays everyone - The third season of Getting Lit with Linda will return in early February 2022.

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In this episode, Linda considers Richard Van Camp, a Dene author who wrangles with what masculinity is, what it looks for those who identify as men, and how and why that may (or should) change. Published by Great Plains Publications, The Moon of Letting Go is the book of focus in this episode, particularly the story, "Show me Yours" (7.27) - and yes, it means exactly what you think it does, but maybe not showing exactly what you think it might. Linda refers to one of the preeminent scholars of Van Camp's work, Dr. Sam McKegney (6.01), and cites from his work, The Burden of Peace (University of Regina Press, 2021), to explore what Van Camp is trying to accomplish in this work.

In the Takeaway portion, she links the concept of masculinity that in part informs her understanding of Brian Fawcett's Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television to Slow (Talon Books) (13.10), published in 1986. Clearly, it's not a recent book - but it was so prescient in terms of what it anticipated about the effects of corporatization and the media, and it does so in a voice that is savvy, smart, and satirical.

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As #winterstormwarnings arrive, perhaps you may want to curl up with some of the writers' books that were shortlisted for the Quebec Writers' Federation awards - Linda speaks to some of the writers shortlisted for the Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature, in addition to one of the poets shortlisted for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. She also spoke about the QWF Gala and the times she slipped on floor-length ballgowns over her jeans for the Governor General's Awards before entering Rideau Hall in Ottawa. So she asked the writers interviewed for this episode how they felt about being shortlisted. Here are the writers who are featured in this episode:

• Monique Polak (Room for One More, Kar-Ben Books)
• Su J Sukol (Zee by Nimbus Publishing)
• Nadine Neema (Journal of a Traveling Girl by Wandering Fox, Heritage House Press)
• Sarah Venart (I am the Big Heart by Brick Books)

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Linda opens this episode with a dedication to her nephew -- and then "shares the light" of Diwali with children's literature author, Mitali Ruths, with whom she chats about her book Archie Celebrates Diwali. Published this year by Charlesbridge Archie Celebrates Diwali is based on an epic, Ramayana, and focuses on the South-Asian festival of lights (3.45, 8.45, and 10.30). Mitali addresses Diwali's origins (3.45 and 4.37), how it is celebrated (15.11), and the reasons for writing this story (7.30, 8.45, 10.30 and 18.30). She makes reference to Sanjay Patel's Ramayana: Divine Loophole (8.27); the significance of Archie's name (a reference to archana and to the Emmy-winning British actress, Archie Panjabi, 20); her fabulous illustrator, Parwinder Singh (4 and 4.15); and, more generally, the plot and meaning of the book (20.30). Mitali also locates this book as one among several in a renaissance of South-Asian stories (9.35).

Special shout-outs (among others) to:

• HG Literary Group (11.28)
• Victoria Wells (11.28)
• her publisher, Charlesbridge (12.28 and 16.09)
• the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (10.33)

At 26.10, Mitali makes a special offer to listeners of the podcast -- and I want "in" on that too!

Join me on the next episode when I chat with some of the finalists for the Quebec Literary prizes (hosted by the Quebec Writers' Federation).

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Happy Hallowe-en! This episode tackles a book that deals with ghosts, gruesome accidents, and murder -- Kevin Lambert's You Will Love What You Have Killed, translated by Donald Winkler (published by Biblioasis 2020) from the French (Tu Aimeras Ce Que Tu As Tué, 5.40). Linda begins this episode with a personal anecdote about a dead body that was found in a dog house (on the property of her parents' neighbours): she uses this narrative to explore the idea of the "repressed," that is, those emotions or moments or stories we would prefer to forget. Lambert, she argues, not only does not allow us to forget the repressed, he insists we grapple with its elements--it makes for a disorienting and yet bewitching read, as even Le Devoir in its review of the book noted (11.43)! Like reigning horror writer from Quebec, Patrick Senecal (5.16), Lambert is skilfully eliciting a sense of our horror, highlighting its effects by locating the events of the book in Chicoutimi, Quebec (6.26) and toppling stereotypical notions of romance, or picturesque rural areas as featured in books like Maria Chapdelaine (7.00).If you want to read other reviews about Lambert's book, you can visit CBC book reviews here or Xtra here).

In the Takeaway section, Linda praises other translations from the French, those of Virginia Pesamapeo Bordeleau 's Blue Bear Woman (published by Inanna) and The Lover, The Lake (Freehand Books) (13.30).

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